Brewers television broadcaster Brian Anderson blogs about baseball in Milwaukee.

@ Astros, Again

Well, if you’re only going to win one game in a series, win the last one. It makes travel and an off day much more enjoyable. The Brewers dropped 2 of 3 in Denver, losing a series for the first time since being swept by Boston. The Crew begins a three game series versus the Astros Tuesday before returning home for another nine game homestand. It’s “go” time. This series marks the third with Houston in a five week span. The two teams have swapped sweeps and the Brewers hope the pattern doesn’t continue. Houston dropped 2 of 3 to St. Louis over the weekend and have lost 9 of 11. Cecil Cooper has concerns about his offense and his bullpen’s workload as the Astros have yet to post a complete game.

As for the Brewers, Rickie Weeks is on the disabled list until June 22nd with a sore left knee. Ned Yost has some tough decisions to make concerning the top of the order as he searches for the right combination to set up Braun and Fielder. With Weeks out for two weeks, Hernan Iribarren was recalled from Triple-A Nashville. He’s an excellent defender and a good left handed hitter. As a side note, Hernan told me the Sounds are making quite a rally up the standings after a sluggish start. He also added that Derrick Turnbow and Jeff Weaver have both pitched well lately. The Brewers have to make a promotion/release decision on Jeff Weaver by June 15 (unless Weaver extends the deadline).

With 99 games to make up 6.5 in the standings, here are some nuggets for the Astros series:

The Brewers are 17-13 against its Central Division foes in 2008–best of any team in the division.

Russell Branyan is 8-for-22 (.364) in his last eight games–of those eight hits, five have been home runs.

Houston is 29-2 (.935) when tied or leading after eight innings this season–best in MLB.

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